Bad News

For all the joy pronounced at the time and supposed to enjoy at this time of year, the birth of Jesus was bad news.

What we sing about and what we read about is how amazing it is that God could join us on earth as a human. God made flesh. The creator of the world laying in a manger. God exposed himself to what we all face in this terribly broken and dysfunctional world. Brought up by Joseph and Mary, experiencing all that is common to us hunger, thirst, heat, cold, injustice and death.

It is hard to understand how he was fully God and fully man. God came to earth, apparently to save us. Could there ever be better news than this? Why would God do it? The answer to that question tells us why the Christmas story is bad news.

The bad news is that God did this because there was no other way, he could help us. The Jews of His day were expecting the kind of Saviour who had always come along and saved them from their physical enemy. They were due for a Saviour to come along now and kick out the Romans.

The problem is that was not their biggest problem, nor is it ours. If the only thing human beings needed were a little external tweaking of their life circumstances, then the coming of Jesus to earth wouldn’t make any sense. But if the greatest danger to all of us is within us, then Jesus is our only hope.

We can leave difficult relationships, resign from a bad career or job, move from a dangerous part of town, even walk away from church that isn’t as it ought to be. But how do you escape from yourself. My biggest problem is me. Without the birth of Jesus and all that followed I’d be lost.

The bad news of Christmas is that it confirms the problem we have which is stated in Romans 3:23: “all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” Sin is the bad news of the Christmas story. Jesus didn’t come to earth to give us a day off with presents and good food. He came on a mission to rescue us.

Sin separates us from God and leaves us guilty before him. Sin makes us active enemies against God. Sin blinds us to the serious condition we are in and our dire need for help. Sin causes us to replace worshiping God with created things we use to try and satisfy ourselves. Sin makes us unable to live as we were designed to live. Sin is a disease that, without help, will kill us all.

What makes the Christmas story bad news is that it tells us something more. That is, Jesus knew that even if we were aware of the great danger of sin, we could not help ourselves. Sin is the ultimate undefeatable enemy. We convince ourselves we are in control until we realise, we are captive to it. It is either the height of arrogance or the depth of delusion to think that you are okay. The only possible thing that can make us ok is that Christ came to earth as a baby but didn’t stay in the manger, he grew to be the man that saved us.

There is a way we try to rid ourselves of this bad news. When you do something wrong, you blame it on stress or sickness, a bad boss, a troublesome spouse, an out of control child, or just the pressures of life. If someone points out where you are in the wrong is your response to thank them? To be thankful someone cared enough to tell you. Or do you jump to your own defence, how dare they suggest you are a sinner.

Instead of excusing yourself and your sin, consider the bad news of the Christmas story. When you do, the good news becomes more meaningful than tinsel and turkey and crazy shopping. Jesus came to rescue you, forgive you, transform you, and ultimately to deliver you. That baby in the manger carried with him to earth everything that sinners need. It’s only when you admit the need that you will be able to fully celebrate the solution that is Jesus.